


hesitation

by kontent



Series: hand in hand [4]
Category: MacGyver (TV 2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Age Changes, Alternate Universe - Non-Magical, Fae & Fairies, Fae Angus MacGyver, Fake Science, Gen, Human Jack Dalton, M/M, Non-Consensual Touching, References to Past Possibly Nonconsensual Touching
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-25
Updated: 2019-08-25
Packaged: 2020-09-26 07:42:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 414
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20386132
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kontent/pseuds/kontent
Summary: “Can I?”His hand hovers over Mac’s wings and he watches the other man swallow. He carefully searches Jack’s face, and Jack doesn’t know what he’s looking for, but he hopes he finds it. Because he’s so close to touching Mac’s wings, the translucent blue so inviting and he just wants to touch them. But when Mac hesitates and slowly shakes his head, he draws his hand back without pushing.





	hesitation

**Author's Note:**

> It's been a while, but now I'm back!
> 
> The non-con tags make it sound worse than it is, but there are no other tags that fit. Jack realizes that Mac probably had someone touch his wings without his explicit consent. Wings are less like limbs in this universe, they are more private. Imagine someone caressing your face. That's about the same in this universe.  
Having had that experience, Mac still hesitates to let other people touch him.

“Can I?”

His hand hovers over Mac’s wings and he watches the other man swallow. He carefully searches Jack’s face, and Jack doesn’t know what he’s looking for, but he hopes he finds it. Because he’s so close to touching Mac’s wings, the translucent blue so inviting and he just  _ wants _ to touch them. But when Mac hesitates and slowly shakes his head, he draws his hand back without pushing. 

Mac doesn’t look surprised, not really; just relieved. It still makes something uneasy curl in Jack’s stomach - the other man looks like he expected Jack to touch him anyway, to disregard his wishes. Jack wants to punch whoever caused for this to be Mac’s default reaction. 

Mac looks away, avoids Jack’s eyes. “I’m sorry.”

Jack frowns, confused. “What for?”

He has a feeling, but he doesn’t want to assume. It feels… wrong. Intrusive. Like he’s piecing things together he shouldn’t be even touching, and he doesn’t want to come up with a wrong conclusion. 

Mac shrugs. “I know you’re curious about my wings. And I would, but I- I can’t-”

The expression on his face is almost pained, and Jack’s heart breaks a little. This is so wrong. They shouldn’t even be having this conversation - Mac setting clear boundaries shouldn’t be a thing that needed to be discussed. It hurts Jack that the other man obviously feels the need to apologize for it.

So Jack shushes him, careful of being comforting and not demanding. “There is literally nothing to apologize for, Mac. I mean yeah, I’m dying to know more about your wings, but I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable. And you should never apologize for putting your own comfort first.”

Mac looks so relieved it actually makes Jack ill. That’s not how he should look when someone respects his boundaries - when someone asks for consent and actually accepts the given answer. But Jack doubts that bringing all that up wouldn’t lead anywhere good. So he just pats Mac’s hand carefully and looks into his eyes, staring into that endless sky.

“Mac, you do not owe anyone anything. You hear me? Never let anyone push you into something you don’t want.”

He wants to hurt whoever made Mac feel like this. If he finds them, he’s going to have a  _ talk _ about boundaries and then he’ll punch them in the face. He’s sure something must show on his face - but Mac is looking at his own feet. But he is nodding. “Yeah, okay.”


End file.
